On April 16, local time, Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lawrence Wong said that Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong will remain in the cabinet as Senior Minister of State after leaving office on May 15.
Lawrence Wong will be sworn in as Singapore's fourth Prime Minister on May 15.
This is Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, photographed in Singapore on March 27. Xinhua News Agency (photo by Deng Zhiwei)
The 72-year-old Lee Hsien Loong entered politics in the 80s and served as Second Minister of Defence, Minister of Trade and Industry, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance. He was appointed Prime Minister of Singapore in August 2004 and has been re-elected ever since.
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Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong handed over the baton to Lawrence Wong in May
Singapore's Prime Minister's Office announced in a statement on April 15 that Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong will resign on May 15. He will formally propose to the President that Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lawrence Wong be the new Prime Minister.
The statement said MPs from the Singapore People's Action Party unanimously supported Lawrence Wong as the new prime minister. The new Prime Minister will be sworn in at 8pm on May 15 at the Presidential Palace.
This is Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lawrence Wong photographed in Singapore on March 26. Xinhua News Agency (photo by Deng Zhiwei)
Lee Hsien Loong later confirmed the news in a social media post. "Last November, I announced my intention to resign as prime minister this year," he said. A change of leadership is an important moment in any country. Lawrence Wong and his team have worked hard to gain the trust of the public, especially during the pandemic. Lee Hsien Loong called on the public to fully support the new team and build a bright future for Singapore.
In an interview with the Ministry of Communications and Information on April 16, Lawrence Wong said that he had invited Lee Hsien Loong to continue serving in the Cabinet as Senior Minister of State after leaving office, and Lee Hsien Loong had agreed. After Lee Hsien Loong's resignation, the new cabinet is not expected to change much, and the full list will be announced a few days before Lawrence Wong is sworn in.
Mr Wong also said bigger changes in the cabinet could not happen until after the next general election.
Lawrence Wong, 51, was first elected to parliament in 2011 and has served in Singapore's Defence, Communications and Journalism, Culture, National Development, Education, Finance and other ministries and was the head of Singapore's Task Force to Combat the Pandemic. In 2022, Lawrence Wong was elected as the new leader of the fourth generation of the ruling People's Action Party. In November 2023, Lee Hsien Loong announced at the PAP congress that he would hand over the baton to Lawrence Wong.
■Synthesized from CCTV news client and Xinhua News Agency
■Editor: Yue Yue, Zhang Grandma